It will be a mix of youthful talent and seasoned players when action continues in the Massy United Insurance Clash Of The Titans at The Villages At Coverley tonight.
There will be four intriguing Round Of 16 men’s matches following the start of the junior competition at 6:30 p.m.
Reigning junior Monarch Of The Court, Emar Edwards, who secured an easy passage into the quarter-finals after Chester “Boy-Boy” Brewster forfeited his match due to an injury to his right hand while recovering from chikungunya, will begin his quest for another junior title against Justin Smith.
Darius “Barracus” Gaskin, who almost pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament before narrowly losing to defending champion Mark “Venom” Griffith on Sunday night, will face Justin Hinds, followed by a showdown between Keon Murrell and Ezekiel Ward.
Dario Hinds, buoyed by his come-from-behind victory over Kery “TC” Francis, will then play Kyle King in the final junior match to determine the four semi-finalists.
Action will then shift to the Clash Of Titans with the flamboyant Aaron Barker, who has made a relatively successful switch from the table tennis board to road play, opposing the unpredictable Marson Johnson.
This will be followed by a clash between last year’s losing finalist, Curtis Jones and Adrian “Dan” Skeete.
Fresh from turning back the challenge of the mult-talented Dwayne Lynch, who ousted Winston “Charles McEnroe” Griffith in the first round, David Arendell faces Anderson “St George” Sealy.
The night’s action will conclude with crowd favourite Antoine “Lil Man” Daniel opposing Julian “Snake” Quimby.
Jones, who is coming off a three-set victory over former Banks champion, Jeffrey “Borah” Best in the Round of 32, believes this could be his time to win his first major title.
“I have been training really hard and trying to mentally prepare myself. I think my game is at a higher level than it was last year,” Jones told MIDWEEK SPORT.
“I don’t think that I have that health issue that I had in the last couple of years, so I think that I will be playing based on my own fitness and not getting too tired, too fast,” he added.
Jones said playing the preliminary rounds at Coverley suits his style.
“I love slow courts. I played well on them so I don’t have a problem.”
